The Story of Silver Wings

Page 3

A local motoring magazine noted the unusual way the car was kept moving:

"The engine ran continuously for the twenty-four hours whilst the car was only stopped once
for a tyre change. This occupied 3 minutes 27 seconds. Fuel supplies were taken aboard in
very quick time, 30 gallons being put in the tank in 37 seconds!"

The drivers were keeping to a very strict plan. The fastest lap during the run was 73 miles
per hour although Billy Attwood was confident of the car being able to average 75 miles per
hour without any trouble.

As the 24 hour mark came up, Attwood and Colliver were becoming anxious to know how they were
going.

They had been dropping out pieces of note paper scrawled with questions about their progress
each time they passed the timing point.

Then the paper ran out. "First a shoe came out, then another, then a driving helmet, then
the floorboards until the observers began to be extremely worried in view of the presence of
ladies as to what additional steps the crew might have to make."

By 5.00 pm, the Chrysler had lapped the course 784 times and covered 1,607.87 miles. The
record was theirs!

Over 24 hours the car had averaged 66.95 miles per hour compared with the existing record of
61.69 miles per hour set at Maroubra Speedway. They also broke the Australian 1000 mile
record by 38 minutes, covering the distance in 14 hours and 35 minutes. The car had averaged
a respectable 27 mpg.